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English-Speaking Population with an Illiteracy Rate of About 22.76% SURVEY OF ICT AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA: Botswana Country Report 46410 ICT in Education in Botswana by Shafika Isaacs April 2007 Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Source: World Fact Book1 Please note: Public Disclosure Authorized This short Country Report, a result of a larger infoDev-supported Survey of ICT in Education in Africa, provides a general overview of current activities and issues related to ICT use in education in the country. The data presented here should be regarded as illustrative rather than exhaustive. ICT use in education is at a particularly dynamic stage in Africa; new developments and announcements happening on a daily basis somewhere on the continent. Therefore, these reports should be seen as “snapshots” that were current at the time they were taken; it is expected that certain facts and figures presented may become dated very quickly. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are entirely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of infoDev, the Donors of infoDev, the World Bank and its affiliated organizations, the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank cannot guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply on the part of the World Bank any judgment of the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. It is expected that individual Country Reports from the Survey of ICT and Education in Africa will be updated in an iterative process over time based on additional research and feedback received through the infoDev web site. For more information, and to suggest modifications to individual Country Reports, please see Public Disclosure Authorized www.infodev.org/ict4edu-Africa. Botswana - 1 www.infodev.org SURVEY OF ICT AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA: Botswana Country Report Overview Botswana is a small, dynamic country with visionary leadership particularly in the sector of ICTs in education. Not only does it boast a liberal telecoms policy, its education and national ICT policies are linked to a broader economic vision for the country. Moreover, in practice, Botswana arguably boasts among the highest PC penetration in education institutions in Africa. As well, all junior and senior secondary schools and government tertiary institutions have PC labs. The government has committed financial resources to improve connectivity and to promote the educational use of ICTs. Country Profile Botswana is a sparsely populated country with just over 1.6 million people living in an area of 582,000 square kilometres. Since gaining independence in 1966, Botswana has performed exceptionally well economically, scoring one of the world’s highest growth rates. It is now a middle-income country with a per capita GDP of $11,200 (2006). Diamond mining has fuelled much of the expansion and currently accounts for more than one- third of the GDP and for 70% to 80% of export earnings. Tourism, financial services, subsistence farming, and cattle raising are other key sectors. On the downside, the government must deal with high rates of unemployment and poverty. Unemployment was officially 23.8% in 2004, but unofficial estimates place it closer to 40%. Botswana has an English-speaking population with an illiteracy rate of about 22.76%. It also has one of the world’s highest known rates of HIV/AIDS infection, but also one of Africa’s most progressive and comprehensive programmes for dealing with the disease. Early in 2002, Botswana became the first African country to offer free antiretroviral (ARV) therapy to everyone through the public health system. Table 1 provides some selected socio-economic indicators for Botswana.2 Table 1: Socio-economic Indicators: Botswana Indicator Population 1.6 million (2006) Languages Official language; English. Other languages: Setswana, Kalanga, Sekgalagadi. Human Development Index 131 (out of 177 countries) (2006) The 2002 Index of Economic Freedom, released by the United States-based Heritage Foundation, rates Botswana’s economy as the freest in Africa. In both 2001 and 2002 the international credit rating agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s awarded Botswana the highest investment grade sovereign credit rating in Africa. The country was also rated the least corrupt in Africa (by Transparency International’s 2002 corruption perception index) and the top country in Africa in terms of good governance (by the World Economic Forum in 2003).3 Botswana is also home to the headquarters of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) which is an alliance of 14 countries that exists to meet the region’s social, economic, Botswana - 2 www.infodev.org SURVEY OF ICT AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA: Botswana Country Report and political needs, and enables it to speak with a united voice. The effective use of ICTs within SADC is currently under consideration. The Education System Botswana’s education system comprises seven years of primary education, three years of junior secondary education, and two years of senior secondary education. Each year at the primary level is a Standard, and each secondary level is a Form. Education in Botswana is free, but not compulsory. The Ministry of Education has authority over all of Botswana’s educational structure except the University of Botswana. The structure mirrors that of the United Kingdom: there is universal access to primary and junior secondary school, but a process of academic selectivity reduces entrance to the senior secondary schools and university. However, educational curricula incorporate pre-vocational preparation in the junior and senior secondary schools. Primary education is the most important stage in the educational system, and the government strives to make it accessible to everyone. It is the joint responsibility of the Ministry of Education and the local government. One central objective of primary education is for children to be literate first in Setswana and then in English. Other goals are for children to become knowledgeable in mathematics and to have a command of science and social studies. From 1991 to 1997 the number of students completing the primary level and entering junior secondary increased from 65.0% to 98.5%.4 The minimum entry age is six years in public schools and five years in private schools, and the maximum entry age in public schools is 10 years. However, flexibility is often exercised to enable pupils in remote areas to have access to primary education. Botswana, like all other countries in the world, invests heavily in the provision of secondary education. Currently there are 206 junior community secondary schools and 27 senior schools. Botswana also has six colleges of education, four of which offer the Diploma in Primary Education while two offer the Diploma in Secondary Education. Botswana also has one university. Table 2 provides a quantitative perspective of some selected system indicators. Table 2: Selected Education Data Indicator Enrolment in primary education 101 (2004) (% gross)* Enrolment in secondary 58 (2004) education (% gross)* Transition to secondary 88 (2003) Enrolment to tertiary education 6 (2004) (% gross) Botswana - 3 www.infodev.org SURVEY OF ICT AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA: Botswana Country Report Gender Parity Index (GPI)** 1.01 in primary; 1.14 in secondary; 1.15 at university (2004) *Percent of gross is the number enrolled as a percentage of the number in the eligible age group. **GPI = gross enrolment ratio (GER) of females, divided by the GER of males and indicates the level of access by females to education compared with males. Infrastructure Botswana’s ICT infrastructure is very good, but is not fully utilised. Internet usage, for example, stands as low as 5% of the population. There is also considerable disparity in terms of urban and rural access to ICT services. Challenges include the relatively high cost of PCs, the lack of electricity in many rural locations, and high charges for Internet usage. In addition, the Internet needs to be made more relevant to the Batswana, through the development of local on-line content tailored to the needs of the population. High international bandwidth costs between USD$3,250 (satellite) to more than USD$6,000 (terrestrial) per 1 MB per month. For 128 kbps, BTC leased lines are between five and 20 times more expensive than in Namibia and South Africa.5 ICT is still not widely exploited by business in Botswana, although it is used extensively in the retail and mining sectors within foreign-owned companies. Botswana’s ICT sector itself is small and generally focused on local market opportunities. Table 3 provides a snapshot of the state of the national ICT infrastructure.6 Table 3: ICT Infrastructure in Botswana Indicator Fixed-line subscribers 69.7 per 1,000 persons (2004) Mobile subscribers 708 per 1,000 persons Dial-up subscribers 6,000 (2005) Broadband subscribers 0 (2004) Internet users 7.167 (2004) Television broadcast 1 stations Radio stations 41 Botswana ranks 56th out of 115 countries on the World Economic Forum’s network readiness index, ahead of Namibia, Uganda, Mali, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. The government is still in the process of liberalising and enhancing regulation of the communications industry in a bid to attract investment as well as encourage innovation and competition. Efforts are being made to reduce communications costs in Botswana, mainly through further liberalisation of the telecommunications industry. This should create more competition and ultimately result in lower tariffs for the consumer. Botswana - 4 www.infodev.org SURVEY OF ICT AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA: Botswana Country Report Botswana has a very small ICT workforce. A CSO labour survey from 1996 put the total size of the workforce in the country at about one-half of one percent of the working population. Of that, only 25% was female.7 ICT Policies Vision 2016 Vision 2016 is a national manifesto of the Botswana government that articulates the long-term economic goals for the country including strategies to meet them.
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